New Video Card Ahoy!

jerman999 · Post by **jerman999** » Sat Oct 04, 2003 4:23 pm

With all the shiny new games coming out this year, I thought I might ditch my trusty Intel Onboard Video and buy an actual card. Due to the fact that I'm not willing to spend much money on it, and the fact that I probably don't have an extra AGP slot, I'm stuck with this

My question is whether or not there is a better PCI card in the same price range. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.[/url]

iohkus · Post by **iohkus** » Sat Oct 04, 2003 5:22 pm

lol pci.

AHOY!

avenger69ie · Post by **avenger69ie** » Sat Oct 04, 2003 10:54 pm

i have a pci card too on my old shitheap gateway 350mhz p2, lol teh card itself is a 32b creative GB500, i bought it for about ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚Â¬100, everything i can use with the limited CPU works fine, including freelancer, hitman 2 etc.. the only game i cant run is Mafia.

Killa-Killa · Post by **Killa-Killa** » Sat Oct 04, 2003 11:48 pm

Yeah... Funny. I'm noyt laughing.

PCI blows. To check if your board has AGP, look for a brown slot that is set further toward the front of the case. It is directly above the PCI slots(which are white).

This has no AGP slot. The AGP slot is longer, about as long as a PCI.

This has one. See it?

An AGP slot is required to run any game with bearable graphics. PCI cards are (dollar for FPS) far more expensive, and not worth looking at. Get a new motherboard if yours doesn't have one.

NOTE: None of those "shiny new games coming out this year" will run at more than .003 FPS on a PCI card...

Remember, the video card should not be the slowest item on your system. ever.

jerman999 · Post by **jerman999** » Sun Oct 05, 2003 1:31 am

Killa-Killa wrote:An AGP slot is required to run any game with bearable graphics. PCI cards are (dollar for FPS) far more expensive, and not worth looking at. Get a new motherboard if yours doesn't have one.

NOTE: None of those "shiny new games coming out this year" will run at more than .003 FPS on a PCI card...

Remember, the video card should not be the slowest item on your system. ever.

Well that's the thing. I got one of those cheap Dell Dimension deals with very little expandablility. All the docs that came with it say to insert a new video card into a PCI slot. There's really nothing about AGP.

Edit: I just found out that there is no AGP slot. I'm not willing to buy a new motherboard just so I can play some games, so please give me some advice on PCI cards.

Strap · Post by **Strap** » Sun Oct 05, 2003 2:00 am

I've seen that if you have an outdated computer (ie, mine. at 450mghz) it is a given that if you want a new graphics card you'll need a new mother board. Mostly because it would go to waste on an older board, and quite possibly blow it up(not really though

)

jerman999 · Post by **jerman999** » Sun Oct 05, 2003 2:07 am

Strapon2 wrote:I've seen that if you have an outdated computer (ie, mine. at 450mghz) it is a given that if you want a new graphics card you'll need a new mother board. Mostly because it would go to waste on an older board, and quite possibly blow it up(not really though )

Well, I just got the computer in January, and the rest of the specs are pretty decent. I've got a 1.8ghz P4 and 512mb RAM. The only thing I need is a video card.

Strap · Post by **Strap** » Sun Oct 05, 2003 2:40 am

if you have 2x or 4x (but you're board is pci, right?) then you would really get your money's worth.

Killa-Killa · Post by **Killa-Killa** » Sun Oct 05, 2003 2:16 pm

jerman999 wrote: I've got a 1.8ghz P4 and 512mb RAM. The only thing I need is a video card.

I didn't know they even made P4 boards without AGP slots...

Anyway, I suggest to get a video card that has as much memory as you can. That way, more of the procesing is done on the card. Anything being done on the card will not be hindered by the un-godly slow PCI slot.

Of course, if you wanted to play games with decent graphics(Anti-aliasing, AntiSoptric filtering, >800x600 and good FPS) but don't want to spend a lot of money, You could get a good motherbaord along with a decent video card. Of course, that's still about $250, so...

Strap · Post by **Strap** » Sun Oct 05, 2003 6:48 pm

that mother board is cool, are there any other cheaper video cards that do just as much as that one?

MurPHy · Post by **MurPHy** » Mon Oct 06, 2003 2:30 am

I've got a PCI video card that I'll sell ya cheap. It's a ATI RAGE II+ w/ 4MB of onboard RAM. Hell, shipping costs would be more than the $5 I'd charge you. Just forget it.

If you want a good video card then you absolutely need an AGP slot on your mobo. There's no ifs ands or buts about it, buddy. Even the videocard I'm using right now is a piece of ass, but It's AGP (Geforce 2 MX 400 32MB).

Since your're using a Dell, chances are that if you try to replace the mobo, you'll probably have to replace the case too, and if you replace that, you'll have to replace half a dozen other components.

Why, you ask? Its pretty simple. The entire system is proprietary, or in other words, unique to Dell. What that means is Dell uses parts that only Dell makes, hence, you can purchase replacement parts only from Dell. It makes sense buisness-wise, but it is the bane of anybody who wants to upgrade their computer, namely, you. If you had a true industry-standard PC (i.e. ATX form-factor), you could replace any single part with another one from an innumerable amount of third-party vendors, at wholesale prices. Try www.pricewatch.com to see for yourself.

In your case, I'd suggest for you to bite the bullet, and pull any usable parts (i.e. industry-standard) out of your current Dell (usually the CPU, HDD, any optical drives, floppy drives, and, if you're lucky, any add-on cards, such as sound cards, video, etc), buy any parts you cannot use (mostly everything else not listed above, including the Power supply, case, motherboard, CPU heatsink, etc).

True, this will cost more money than simply buying a whole new computer, but that is how Dell stays in buisness (and Gateway, HP/Compaq, Micron PC, and any other major PC builders), and it is how they lure you into buying another PC from them. But if you do as is shown above, you will have a completely industry-standard PC, which means that if you want to upgrade/ replace a single component (the videocard in this case), you will be able to buy it from the same suppliers that serve Dell, Gateway, etc. You will get these parts at dirt cheap prices, though not as cheap as Dell, as they buy in BIG bulk, i.e. in lots of 1 to 10 thousand are not uncommon.

This is the best way for you to upgrade your system, and it is how I upgraded mine (originally a Gateway). If you go this route, I also suggest that you go for an AMD-based system, as the price for a low-end to mid-range Athlon PC is much cheaper than Intel for the same performance level.

Killa-Killa · Post by **Killa-Killa** » Tue Oct 07, 2003 2:03 am

Murphy, in his ultimate wisdom wrote:The entire system is proprietary, or in other words, unique to Dell. What that means is Dell uses parts that only Dell makes, hence, you can purchase replacement parts only from Dell.

No.

Dell parts are no different than other parts in every core component. While their cases are unique, they support many MB types. Dell makes very few parts (Do they even make their own cases/monitor cases/keyboards? Or do they outsource that, too?)

Strapon wrote:are there any other cheaper video cards that do just as much as that one?

The GeForce 4 Ti4800 SE 8x 128 MB is a bit cheaper, with still relatively good performance.

Strap · Post by **Strap** » Wed Oct 08, 2003 2:52 am

Does having tv-out and other TV features raise the price? I would prefer not having that option (tv resolution really sucks. yea, it's a huge screen, but it looks like crap)
I've heard slow things about g-force cards compared to radeon cards... do you know more about this?

Kizmiaz · Post by **Kizmiaz** » Wed Oct 08, 2003 9:21 am

Strapon2 wrote:(tv resolution really sucks. yea, it's a huge screen, but it looks like crap)

But it's nice when you have the DVD-player in the computer. 8)